CHICAGO (WLS) -- An email written by Governor Bruce Rauner has surfaced where he called half of Chicago Public Schools teachers "virtually illiterate."

The email was written in 2011, before Rauner was governor, and was sent to Mayor Rahm Emanuel and other top education reform activists in the city.

A judge ordered the mayor's administration to release a batch of emails Thursday and this email was one of them.

Illinois Federation of Teachers president Dan Montgomery released a statement saying, in part: "Governor Bruce Rauner's statement that half of Chicago teachers are 'virtually illiterate' is a grotesque affront to the thousands of dedicated, hardworking, and talented educators and, indeed, the children who learn from them and love them."

Montgomery continues, "While Rauner publicly claims to love Illinois teachers, his private emails reveal the appalling truth: he holds them in contempt. No public servant, let alone a governor, is fit to oversee the education of our children when he or she has so little regard for those who teach."

A spokesperson for the governor released a statement which read, in part, "This particular email was sent out of frustration at the pace of change in our public school system. The Governor regrets writing it and apologizes to CPS educators for making an unfair, untrue comment." null